The Path of Revenge
by Ano-chan
Summary: "All I can see is ashes..." Is the pain and hatred of one trainer enough to get his revenge? Only time will tell...
1. Chapter 1

Had this story buzzing around my head for awhile, so I figured I might as well write it down and see what happens. Oh, and don't own Pokemon.

* * *

Tori sighed as she went about the restaurant, cleaning up the stray messes left by the few less considerate customers. As she dumped her armful dishes into the sink she slowly surveyed the remaining tables. Only a handful of people remained, which wasn't very surprising, most sane people would have gone to bed at this hour, but that didn't stop her father from insisting on always keeping this place open on the off chance a weary traveler needed a good place to rest, even though there was a perfectly good Pokécenter across the street.

"But they don't serve your fathers famous baked potatoes, now do they?" was always his explanation.

"How are they world famous?" was what she would always ask, "we only serve them here."

"They will be one day, just wait and see," he would answer, grinning as he walked away, eventually, this conversation became a silly private joke between the two of them over the years. She truly loved working with her parents at this quaint little place, but she sometimes wondered what life would be like if she ever got out of this town and…

"Not daydreaming on the job again, are we?" a familiar voice chided behind her. Turning around looked up at he grinning face of her mother. She was wearing an old apron, dirtied with flour from years of cooking, and her dark hair was pulled back into a ponytail to keep it out of her eyes.

"Can't I have a little break mom?" Tori asked helplessly, running her hand through her own dark hair sheepishly, "It's almost 10:30 and it looks like everyone's about to leave." As she finished a faint ringing sound came from behind her, it was the bell on the front door, announcing the arrival of another customer.

"Not quite," grinned her mother, "go help the customer and then you can go to bed. And be sure to offer him some of your fathers world famous potatoes!" she added as Tori began to walk away. Putting on her 'I love all our customers' smile, Tori walked up and bowed politely to the newcomer.

"Good evening, welcome to the Sienna Town Restaurant, we have a table for you right over here," she explained in her happy waitress voice. She quickly led him over to a table by a window, through which you could see the shadow of the mountain the town for, Storm Mountain. As he sat down Tori finally got a good look at him. He seemed to be around her age, maybe a year older, with messy black hair splayed across the top of his head. He wore simple traveling clothes with a light jacket over his shirt, and a backpack easily slung over one shoulder. What really drew her attention were the four tiny white and red balls attached to his belt. He was a Pokémon Trainer! That explained why he was traveling on his own. As she looked up she realized that he was staring back at her with stern gray eyes. She suddenly realized that she was supposed to be taking his order.

"Oh! Um, what would you like tonight? We have a special on my father's world famous potatoes," she told him quickly, feeling a rush of embarrassment as her cheeks reddened.

"Alright, I take that…and some water too," he replied his eyes off her and staring intently out of the window, seemingly focused on something outside.

"Thank you very much, the order will be here shortly," she bowed again and headed off to the kitchen. She waved to her father to get his attention.

"We have an order for the 'World Famous' potatoes and some water," she told him quickly.

"Really?" asked her father, surprised, "did we get a new customer?"

"Yeah," Tori nodded, "he looks like a trainer,"

"A trainer? Haven't seen one of them in awhile," he mused. Sienna was off the normal path for trainers, so the only ones they got were either crazy explorers, or ones who wished to test their strength by climbing the mountain, and to try and capture a powerful Pokémon legends said waited at the very top. Tori shook her head as she recalled those rumors. Everyone tried to explain to the trainers that the rumors were simply that, rumors, but they continued anyways. Of all the trainers that had tried such a trek, all but one had returned angrily, forced back by the ferocity of the constant storms on the mountain. The last one had returned after several days, raving about a magnificent creature on the top, but his ravings were attributed to his severe dehydration. After receiving treatment the trainer recalled no memory of such a creature, further disproving the legend.

"Well, here's the order," her father announced, pulling her again from her thoughts, "just reheated an old batch, but when it comes to this world famous dish, it still tastes great," he finished, setting down a plate with the potatoes and a small glass of water. Nodding absentmindedly, Tori picked up the plate and headed over to the trainer's table. Bowing again as she set down the plate, Tori drew back slightly, but found herself staring at the trainer again. The few that came through here would always boast of their adventures, and she wondered what his story was. It didn't look like she would find out though, other than slowly picking at his food, all he seemed to be doing was stare out the window. Following his gaze it seemed that he was focused on the mountain outside. Pulling her gaze back she found that the trainer was staring at her again.

"Do you need something else?" he asked, Tori stated, realizing how long she had been staring at him.

"Ah! I was just wondering, because you're a trainer and everything, are you going up the mountain?" she asked, the words quickly flowing out of her mouth. The trainer simply nodded in reply and returned to his meal.

"But, you know those rumors aren't true," she added, "there's no powerful Pokémon waiting to be caught at the top," as she finished the trainer let out a harsh laugh.

"You don't understand, I'm not going to catch it," he scooped up another forkful of potatoes, "I'm going to kill it," he finished simply, putting the fork in his mouth.

Tori backed off, completely shocked, she'd never heard anything like that before, people didn't kill Pokémon…it just simply didn't happen. Look around the restaurant she saw that she wasn't the only one that heard, the few customers that were left glared at the trainer. The trainer either pretended not to notice or simply didn't care. He slowly finished his meal and paid the bill, slowly standing up and stepping back outside into the gloomy night. Another customer quickly got up and followed, Tori shook her head in worry, she knew that man, and knew trouble was going to follow. He name was Luke and he was one of the few people in town who actually owned Pokémon, but he was by no means a trainer, simply using them to bully others into getting what he wanted. He probably would challenge this guy to try and make himself look tougher. She wasn't surprised to find him and the trainer in heated conversation when she headed outside.

"So where do you think you're going?" Luke asked, grabbing the trainer by the shoulder and spinning him around.

"If you had bothered to listen back there you would know I was going into the mountain," the trainer replied with a boring stare.

"I don't think so," Luke grinned, "you don't look so tough, I bet I could beat you in a second!" Reaching down to his belt he pulled out one of two Pokéballs.

"So…two on two?" The trainer asked, "as long as this is over quick," he pulled out one of his own Pokéballs.

"Deal! I choose you, Charmeleon," Luke shouted, opening the ball and the flash of light formed into the shape of a reptilian creature, it's tail aflame with a single horn on the back of it's head.

"Finish this quick, Houndour," the trainer responded, his Pokéball releasing a small black haired dog wearing what looked like a skull on it's forehead, it growled menacingly at it's opponent.

"Blast them with a flamethrower Charmeleon!" Luke shouted. Charmeleon opened it's mouth and sent a barrage of flames at Houndour.

"Charge and hit it with a smog," the trainer ordered. Houndour charged forward, passing through the flames with minimal damage and bringing it face to face with Charmeleon. Houndour opened it's mouth and sprayed a thick fog at Charmeleon. Houndour backed off, pacing the fog as it cleared, revealing Charmeleon coughing on the ground, obviously phased by the poisonous gas.

"Get up Charmeleon! Hit them with Dragon Rage!" Forcing itself up off the ground, Charmeleon opened it's mouth again and sent a great ball of energy rushing towards Houndour.

"Finish this with bite," the trainer countered. Houndour jumped to the side, the energy ball crashing into the ground, raining dirt all around them. It quickly rushed up to Charmeleon, sinking it's teeth into it's opponents neck. Releasing it's grip, Charmeleon collapsed to the ground, out of the fight. Scowling, Luke returned his Pokémon to it's ball.

"Fine, but lets see that puppy stand up to this!" he shouted, opening his second Pokéball, the light forming in a bull-like creature, it's three tails whipping angrily.

"No thanks, I've wasted enough time here, I need to finish this, return," the training smoothly said, returning Houndour, "go Scyther," his second ball opened, releasing a large praying mantis Pokémon, the little light provided from the stars reflecting off the twin blades it had for arms.

"Tauros, squash that bug with a Take Down!" Luke shouted, sending his Pokémon charging forward, it's head lowered to slam it's horns into Scyther.

"X-Scissor," the trainer ordered, Scyther simply hunched down, waiting as Tauros drew closer and closer. Tori couldn't help but gasp when it seemed like Scyther was about to be sent flying. Suddenly, right when Tauros was about to slam into Scyther, it ducked under Tauros, slashing upwards with it's arms crossed in an X shape. Using this, and Tauros's momentum, Scyther flung Tauros over it's head where it slammed into the ground behind him, unconscious.

Tori simply stared in amazement, and she wasn't the only one, members of the town, woken by the noise, had gathered in a small circle around the two battlers. The trainer simply returned his Pokémon and pushed through the crowed, heading down the road towards the mountain.

"Hey! Where you going?" Luke shouted after him, a pathetic attempt to regain some of his reputation, "running off to mommy and daddy?" The trainer immediately stopped and turned around, glaring at Luke.

"Which house is yours?" he asked. Luke stared at him, confused by the question.

"That one…why, looking for a place to run and hide?" he answered, indicating a simple wooden house that looked like it was simply thrown together with no care for how it appeared to others.

"Houndour," the trainer called, releasing the Pokémon again, "burn it to the ground…" Houndour headed to the house, the crowd of people watching in shock; stunned by the words they just heard. Houndour opened his mouth, and out of if gushed a stream of fire, quickly alighting the dry wood.

"This is what a loser deserves," the trainer hissed, calling Houndour back to it's ball as he once more turned to leave the town. Eventually, the silence was broken as the crowd began to call for water to put out the house, but Tori could only watch in numb silence as the trainer left the light from the burning building, eventually fading into the darkness.

* * *

So there you go, sorry if the fights were a little annoying, and the ending doesn't seem quite right. Other than that I hope you liked the characters, I'm not sure if I should continue this or not. Give me your opinions, and your prediction of what could happen next. I might accept OC's later. We'll see how far the story goes.


	2. Chapter 2

So here's the second chapter, thank you kyuuketsuki fang for giving me the encouragement to continue. Hope you like it. Oh, and I don't own Pokemon.

* * *

_Cold…_

It seemed that was the only thought on his mind as he slowly trekked upward on the mountain. When he had started two days ago the snow had begun to fall, but it was only a small snowfall. But what first started as a simple snowfall quickly evolved into a terrible blizzard. He could no longer even see the trail any longer, but it didn't matter, all that mattered to him was to keep moving forward. To stop was to admit defeat, and that was something he could never do.

_Cold…_

The snow layered itself on top of him, weighing him down further; each step he took sank deeply into the fresh snow, slowing him down. Yet he continued forward, seemingly drawing energy from nowhere.

_Keep moving…can't stop…_

The fact is, he was losing, and he knew it. His arms hung limply at his side, he could no longer feel the chill of the air around him, and he was fighting to keep his eyes open, knowing that to close them was death.

_Keep…moving…don't…_

He was startled out of his thoughts as a loud animalistic roar echoed through the air. Feeling a rush of adrenaline he quickly glanced around, but could see nothing but the rapidly falling snow. The roar came again, louder, and closer. He caught the sound of crunching snow. Waiting, the creature slowly appeared in front of him. A huge creature perfectly suited for this harsh weather, it was covered in thick white fur with only it's feet, hands, and tail being colored a dark green. The trainer stared up at the beast, each one seeming to wait for the other to make a move. Finally, the Pokémon roared again, and the entire hillside seemed to move as at least twenty more Abomasnow pulled themselves from the deep snow and arranged themselves behind the first one. This huge group was probably was the reason for the intensity of the blizzard in the first place. The leader continued to stare down at the trainer and the message was clear, leave or they would all attack.

"Never," the trainer replied, glaring back at the Abomasnow with matching ferocity, "go, Houndour, Hitmonlee!" he quickly shouted, throwing two of his Pokéballs, releasing a growling dog-like creature and a brown colored humanoid Pokémon, which quickly crouched into a fighting position. Seeing this the Abomasnow all roared and began to charge forward

"Houndour keep them at bay with a flamethrower, and Hitmonlee, take care of any of them that get through," the trainer ordered, Houndour quickly opened it's mouth and sent a barrage of flames forward, startling the group of large Pokémon. Yet, even with the threat of the powerful flames, several of the Abomasnow continued forward. As they drew closer the trainer shouted another order.

"Double-Kick Hitmonlee!" The fighting Pokémon leapt towards two of it's opponents and delivered a powerful kick into each one, smashing them backwards to collapse into the snow, but as Hitmonlee landed it lost it's footing allowing another Abomasnow to attack it with an icicle edge. The Pokémon summoned a shard of ice and smashed it into Hitmonlee's back. The Pokémon seemed to fall, but forced itself up and glared back at the Abomasnow with a look of pure malice.

"Revenge," commanded the trainer. Hitmonlee charged at the Abomasnow, slamming it in the face with a powerful kick, knocking it out. The Abomasnow, seeing their fallen comrades, acted more cautiously now, slowly circling the trainer and his Pokémon. The leader once more stepped forward, growling to keep the others back. It was obvious it wished for a one-on-one fight. Understanding, the trainer nodded, returning Hitmonlee to it's ball he motioned for Houndour to come forward. The Abomasnow did not scoff at it's smaller opponent; it had seen the power of Houndour's flames and knew it had to be cautious.

Abomasnow's arm began glowing green and it quickly punched Houndour, slamming it into the snow with Wood Hammer.

"Houndour, get up and hit it with a flamethrower!" the trainer shouted, struggling, Houndour forced itself up and sent a sheet of fire towards it's opponent. Abomasnow countered with Icy Wind, hitting the flames and turning into steam as the ice melted. Through the haze it charged forward, it's fist glowing blue with an Ice Punch.

"You just need one solid hit! Dodge the punch and hit it with a Fire Fang!" the trainer yelled. Guessing where it's opponent would be attacking, Houndour quickly rolled to the side, causing Abomasnow the rush past it. With it's back turned to Houndour it was too easy of a target. Houndour opened it's mouth, where flames began to flicker around it's teeth. Charging forward, Houndour sank it's teeth into the exposed back of the Abomasnow, who roared in pain and anger before collapsing to the ground. The rest of the Abomasnow glanced down at their fallen leader before looking up at the trainer. His eyes were still full of a fierce determination; he would defeat them all if he had to.

Slowly, the group of Pokémon parted before him, making a pathway in the snow. The trainer returned Houndour to it's ball and began to walk between the powerful Pokémon. Once past them the trainer pulled his jacket up in an attempt to fight off the cold, weaker now that he was away from the Abomasnow, and glanced upwards where he could see the top off the mountain stabbing upward into the sky.

"Throw everything you have at me you damn mountain, it won't be nearly enough," he whispered into the cold empty air.

* * *

"Tori, are you even listening?" the tone of her mother's voice cut through Tori's thoughts as she jumped in surprise. Somehow, she had found herself once more at the table where the trainer had sat briefly, and her eyes were staring out the window at the mountain, always at the mountain.

"Ah! Sorry mom, I'll take care of those orders right away!" she told her mother, nodding her head as she began to walk away. She stopped immediately as she felt her mother's hand on her shoulder.

"Tori, there aren't any orders, we haven't had any customers since this morning, are you feeling all right?" her mother asked, sounding worried.

"Yeah mom, just a little tired. So what was it you were telling me?" Tori asked, trying to regain some of her composure.

"I was saying that your father wanted to talk to you, he's waiting for you in the kitchen," her mom's tone made it clear this wasn't something she could just shrug off. Nodding, Tori headed off into the kitchen. The first thing she saw was her dad sitting down with another chair in front of him, Tori really didn't like where this was going. Sitting down in the opposite chair she waited for her father to start.

"Tori," he finally started, "your mother and I have noticed, that recently, ever since the trainer came through, you've been acting odd…" Tori's eyes opened wide in surprise when she heard her father mention the trainer. Everyone in town seemed content to pretend he had never come to town, and even Luke simply sat in silence at the Pokécenter, wallowing in depression after losing his home.

"W-what do you mean?" Tori asked nervously?"

"The trainer left two days ago, and since then you've been acting like you're in another world. You have to be told something at least twice before you do it, and you are always at that window, staring out towards Storm Mountain. What's got you so occupied?" her father explained. Tori opened her mouth to answer, but closed, finally, with a deep breath, she answered.

"I don't know," she confessed, "I only saw him once…but there was something about him. You heard him, he said he was going to kill whatever Pokémon is living on top of the mountain, then after beating Luke he destroyed his home on a whim! I've never met…I've never even heard of someone like him…" the words flowed out of her, yet even as she explained it all, it didn't make any more sense.

"I understand how you feel," admitted her father, "I've heard stories of trainers, but always as a friend to everyone, that boy…he doesn't fit in with our way of life. Just try and forget him, okay dear? With a little luck, he won't pass through our village again, now go upstairs, it's almost time for bed." Her father slowly sat up, ruffling her hair as he left, signifying the end of the conversation. Slowly, almost in a dreamlike state, Tori headed up the stairs into her room.

Her room was small and simple; just enough room for a bed, a small dresser, and a writing desk, but Tori loved it all the same. As the door shut behind her Tori sat down on her bed. Tori's room didn't have a window but she could still see the mountain, bold and strong as it stood, imposing, over the town.

"The trainer…he's just like that mountain," Tori said to herself. He could not be forgotten, just how the mountain couldn't be pushed out of her mind. She had to understand him, just to know what made him…him.

* * *

It was just after midnight when Tori's door slowly opened and she stepped out. She was clothed in heavy winter clothing, a heavy backpack over her shoulders; she knew she was going to need them. Yet, with each step she took, each step closer to leaving home, she began hoping that someone would see her, tell her what a terrible idea this was, yet she was alone this dark night. She stepped out into the cold night air, closing the door behind her. Looking up at the dark silhouette of the mountain, she began the long hike towards it, starting her journey as another's journey stopped, caught in a deep dream of the past.

* * *

"Come on! Wake up sleepy head!" the tiny voice yelled at him, jabbing him in the side in an attempt to wake him from his deep sleep. Groaning, he slowly sat up, and then widened his eyes when he realized he wasn't in his bed. He was in the middle of a beautiful field of flowers, with an angry little girl glaring at him.

"What happened?" he asked, unsure of what to do.

"You tell me lazy, it looks like you were trying to hide from your parents," the girl chided, acting like his superior when she was obviously a few years younger than him, "now come on, you promised you'd walk me around the village today," with that the girl immediately grabbed his hand and pulled him off the ground. Following mutely behind her, they both soon reached the village, a small one consisting merely of a few houses around the flower field.

Looking around, he could not help but be amazed by the beauty all around him. The homes were built, not to take advantage with nature, but to live in perfect harmony with it. Looking back at the girl leading him, a name slowly rose to the surface of his mind, Serena. As he saw more villagers he recognized them as well, there was Jack and Ben, the two brothers. They looked similar but couldn't be more different; Jack was glad staying home and was content to live there forever, while Ben always voiced his dreams of going on an amazing adventure, telling everyone his plans to run away as soon as possible. Then there was Jason, a powerful with a deep booming voice. He was the leader of the small village who was always there to help fix any problem when it arose.

"Look! There are your parents!" Selena said, pulling on his arm. Turning his head he was able to see his home, a sturdy wooden house like the rest of the village, and in front of it was a smiling man and woman. Each had dark hair, but the woman kept it long and tied back while the man's was cut close to his head. Seeing his parents, together, happy, finally made him smile. Strangely, that action felt foreign, as if he had almost forgotten how to do it, but that didn't make any sense. There was no reason to be sad or angry here…

"Hey…there's something up there…what is it?" Serena's voice cut through his peaceful thoughts. Looking up at the sky, he remembered, and the illusion was shattered. He knew this place now, and by knowing it, everything changed. Serena faded away, along with everyone except for his parents. Their smiles slowly turned to frowns, and then they too disappeared, engulfed by crimson red flames that blocked his vision. When the flames cleared, everything was gone, replaced by a mocking valley of dark ashes and burnt buildings. In the sky, flying away, was a majestic bird, it's wings aflame. He would never forget it, he would find it…and it would pay.

* * *

Hope the fight scenes were good enough for you. I particularly liked the dream sequence at the end, and if you couldn't tell, it was the trainer who was dreaming. So, if anyone has any ideas on what's gonna happen, post them, I would love to read them. Oh, and R&R of course.


	3. Chapter 3

So here's chapter three, I don't know what to think about it, but I hope you like it. And no owning of Pokemon.

* * *

The trainer slowly blinked the sleep from his eyes as he looked at his surroundings. He was huddled in the back of a rock cavern, his jacket over him in a pathetic attempt to be used as a blanket, while the remains of a fire, started with the help of his Houndour, smoldered in front of him. After defeating the Abomasnow he had forced himself to walk through the snow till his body could take no more. He had stumbled into the cave, barely seeing it through the snow, and sent off his Pokémon to gather wood for a fire, since sleep, even out of the blizzard, would mean death.

Staring at the cooling embers he not help but remember his dream, the dream of a person he could no longer remember. The faces and names repeated themselves over and over in his mind, drawing up emotions he had forced down years ago. Happiness, love, hope, and the sadness from having all of those taken away from him, all of them had been hidden away. The rush was too much for him, and he felt warm tears slowly pool in his eyes. Angrily, he forced himself to stand, wiping away the tears. He had no use for those emotions, no use for the past; all they ever did was make him weak. Tears and memories would do nothing to move him closer towards his goal.

Once more he pushed back everything, forcing everything but his anger away. The faces faded once more, till all that was left was the face of a smiling happy boy, grinning with delight a his life friends, but even that faded, and even the boy's name was forgotten.

Moving to the mouth of the cave, the trainer stared outside where the massive blizzard was still raging, but he simply threw on his coat once more, he had wasted far too much time here, he had to continue moving forward. Stepping outside, he was greeted once more with the harsh cold wind, but it mattered little. He forced his feet through the thick snow, knowing he had to be close to the peak of the mountain, but stopped as he felt the ground rumble beneath his feet. He feared an avalanche was beginning, but realized that the rumbling was caused by something else, a Pokémon was tunneling through the ground, and it was heading right for him.

Bursting through the snow, a giant Onix rose before him, standing at nearly forty feet tall, the hard stones of it's body had even taken on a white glimmer, making it appear as a ghost between the flurries of snow. The trainer stared at this mighty opponent, unsurprised. Every step on this mountain seemed to be made to stop him from progressing, so seeing this powerful Pokémon, much further up the mountain, was expected.

"You will never push me back!" shouted the trainer, both to the Onix and to the mountain, "go! Banette!" his fourth Pokéball flew through the air, releasing a grinning doll-like Pokémon. Banette giggled mischievously, even when facing such a powerful Pokémon. Onix roared at such a mocking greeting, charging forward in a powerful slam attack. The attack simply fazed through the ghost Pokémon, but the trainer wasn't so lucky, he had to run quickly to the side, diving at the last instant to avoid being crushed by the huge Pokémon. Standing up he shouted to his Banette.

"Hit it with shadow ball! Hurry, before it goes back underground!" still grinning, Banette summoned a ball of dark energy, blasting it towards the giant Onix. The hit connected, but even though Onix roared with anger, no damage had been done; it had merely made the Pokémon angry. It began thrashing around, using the attack rage, which once more did nothing to Banette, but was increasingly dangerous for the trainer. The powerful thrashings displaced all of the new, loose snow, making the chance of an avalanche higher and higher.

"That's enough! Hypnosis Banette, before it brings the mountain down on us!" the trainer ordered. Banette giggled, pleased by all the chaos, and floated in front of the enraged Onix's face. Locking eyes with it, Banette began forcing it to collapse, slowly lulling the Pokémon to sleep. Finally, the great serpentine Pokémon collapsed into the snow, the shudder from it falling echoing through the air.

"Banette, return," the grinning Pokémon disappeared in a flash of light, and the trainer reattached the ball to his belt. Wordlessly, he turned away from the mighty Pokémon, and once more disappeared into the blizzard.

* * *

Tori didn't understand, she didn't understand at all. Her whole life she'd hears stories of this mountain, stories of powerful storms that could blow a person off the mountain, of wild savage Pokémon that would attack without warning, and yet, she had seen none of that.

The snow swirled around her, but not with the fury described to her by the trainers, it seemed gentle, almost coaxing her forward. It all seemed too easy, and she worried. Every little noise that she didn't recognize made her jump, thinking the mountain was throwing away its façade of innocence, but this was never the case. Sighing again after jumping at another sound, Tori squinted in an attempt to see through the white haze of the snow in front of her. As she did she noticed something moving a ways in front of her, something much too large to be human. As she was wondering what to do, the figure began heading towards her.

It covered the distance remarkably quickly and before Tori could even think of hiding it was in front of her. The large creature was a powerful Abomasnow, which glared down at her, but Tori felt no malice from its gaze. Finally, Tori forced herself to stand straight and look it back in the eyes. After locking gazes the Abomasnow eventually nodded at her, letting out a gruff grunt. Lifting one of it's arms, Abomasnow pointed off into the distance, following it with eyes, Tori something that might have been a trail, but as she turned back to the Pokémon, it bounded away, vanishing among the snowfall. Tori was even more confused now, everything on the mountain seemed to be leading her somewhere, but the only question was, where?

* * *

The trainer couldn't take it any more, and his anger and frustration burst out in a powerful yell that echoed through the cold landscape. Everything before now he had beaten easily, the wild Pokémon were nothing, but now the mountain was beating him, and it didn't have to do anything, he was lost. The blizzard seemed to gain even more fury after he had defeated the Onix, and now he could not tell where he was. He could not afford to wait out the storm, he would freeze before it would end, and he couldn't see anything, everything around him was a pure white, almost as if he was stuck in a cloud.

He quickly lifted his head, hearing something off to his right; if it was another Pokémon he could capture and force it to lead him. Quickly grabbing one of his Pokéballs he threw it towards the noise.

"Scyther, attack," the mantis Pokémon quickly leapt forward into the white fog, but instead of hearing the roars of a battle, the trainer only heard someone shriek and collapse in the snow. Pulling himself through the snow towards the sound he found his Scyther standing over a girl who had unceremoniously fallen into the snow, her hat falling over and covering her eyes.

"Not a Pokémon," he murmured to himself, returning Scyther, "Who are you?" he asked the figure in the snow.

"Who do you think you are?" she replied angrily, pushing her snow cap off, "attacking me out of the blue like that-" she stopped as she looked up and recognized the trainer, shivering and looking more miserable than usual, but it was definitely him.

Shrugging her off, the trainer look behind her at the set of footprints she had left, maybe by following those he could find a trail and…

"Hey!" she shouted to snap him out of his thoughts, "I'm Tori…you met me at the town at the bottom of the mountain," she explained, answering his question.

"So why should I care-" he stopped as he realized what she had just said to him, "you followed me…"

"What?" Tori exclaimed, obviously flustered, "No! I-I just…I waited two days and was worried and I…followed you…" she finished meekly. The trainer simply continued to stare down at her a strange look on his face.

"I was two days ahead of you, and yet you've caught up to me…how?" he asked, his eyes narrowing to a confused glare.

"I-I don't know," she stammered, "I just followed the path…and…it led me to you…" she finished almost as an afterthought. The trainer continued to stare at her, then nodded, and offered her a hand to help her up. Surprised, she quickly took it and he pulled her out of the snow.

"It seems you can find your way around the mountain, that makes you useful to me," he explained to her, "but let me make one thing clear to you, you make me waste one moment of time, force me to take a single step backwards, and I will throw you off this mountain myself." Tori stepped away, letting go of his hand; his face showed that he had meant every word he said.

"R-right," she replied uneasily, "lets go," with that she turned and started walking, once more she felt as if the mountain was leading her somewhere, so she followed, listening to the footfalls of the silent trainer behind her as she did.

* * *

"We can keep moving," he repeated again when Tori once more suggested that they could stop, only this time, Tori knew they had to stop.

"No," she firmly stated, stopping in her tracks and turning around to face the trainer, "the sun is setting, and eventually we won't be able to see anything at all. Now, you can go on alone and most likely fall off a cliff, or we can stop and make camp and survive until tomorrow!" their gazes locked and uncomfortable silence formed until, surprisingly, the trainer backed down. As he looked away Tori let out a quick sigh, she was afraid he would have fulfilled the promise he made earlier.

"Very well," the trainer relented, "so what are we supposed to do?"

"We need to make camp," she answered, then pointed off into the distance, "I think I see a cave over there, come on," as she headed off she unconsciously grabbed his hand to lead. Angrily, he yanked his hand out of her grip.

"I can find it without your help," he threw a Pokéball, releasing Banette, "find some wood and bring it back to the cave for a fire," the cackling Pokémon floated off while the two headed towards the cave.

Entering it, the trainer simply sat down at the mouth of the cave, waiting for Banette to return while he shivered slightly in the cold. Tori looked at him and sighed, his clothes were soaked with melted snow, any normal person would have collapsed by now, but something kept him moving. A sinister laugh announced the return of Banette, several small pieces of wood floating in front of it. Dropping them in front of the trainer, he silently returned the Pokémon to it's ball. Moving to the back of the cave he set up the wood before calling out his Houndour to light it.

With the fire going the trainer sat as close to it as possible, trying to gain as much heat as possible. Tori slowly moved next to the fire and sat down across from him.

"So…what exactly were you thinking?" she finally asked, after drawing up enough courage.

"What do you mean?" he replied, intent on warming his hands by the fire.

"Your climbing this mountain, you don't have anything to protect you from the cold, and you don't even have any food!" she exclaimed, "any of those things alone could kill you!"

"They could try," was his only response and he moved closer to the flames. Tori couldn't think of a proper reply so she asked him another question.

"Why do you want to kill the Pokémon that lives on this mountain?" those words drew the trainer's gaze away from the flames.

"Why? Because it took everything from me…" the answer came slowly from his mouth, like it was something he didn't want to admit.

"But…but killing it won't bring it all back, I mean don't you-"

"Shut up," he coldly interrupted, "don't act like you understand me, understand what I'm doing. I know death won't bring everything back…but I don't care. I don't want it to be right…I just want it to be…gone…" he finished silently, finally pulling away from the fire to go to sleep. Tori watched him silently, her hand slowly moved as if to reach over to him, but fell limply to her side. Moving away from him she sat down and pulled her backpack off, looking for a blanket to sleep in. Pulling it out of the pack she looked over to the sleeping form of the trainer, he was shivery, his clothing still wet from the snow. Moving over to him, she draped the blanket around him. Pulling away she laid down on the cave floor, realizing just how tired she was. But, lying there, she could not forget his last words as she drifted off to sleep.

_"I just want it to be…gone…"

* * *

_

Sorry about the first part, it seemed like a copy of the battle between the Abomasnow, but I wanted to show the last of the trainer's Pokemon. And there is a reasonable (sort of) explanation for how Tori caught up, I'll explain that in the next chapter. Please R&R you faithful readers.


	4. Chapter 4

Man, you ever have one of those things that just gets you thinking? For me it was reading about that Live Action Pokemon thing, Pokemon Live! Don't know why, but I really want to see it, but now it's impossible and it make me kinda sad...anywho don't own Pokemon and enjoy the chapter.  


* * *

It was the smell that finally awoke him, the smell of food. Opening his eyes, the trainer sat up, Tori's blanker falling off of him unnoticed. Turning to look at the fire he saw Tori studiously watching a batch of food cook over the fire in a pan. Tori, hearing him stand up, turned and smiled at him.

"Good morning…or…at least I think it's morning, you can't tell, the blizzard's still going outside," she motion to the entrance to the cave where a fierce blizzard could be seen blowing, "want some breakfast?" Tori offered the pan towards him, inside appeared to be a batch of sizzling, diced up potatoes. Ignoring the food, the trainer looked over at the blanket lying on the ground.

"I did not go to sleep with a blanket," he stated, his eyes narrowing in confusion.

"Oh, well you were shivering last night and I…" Tori fell silent as the trainer turned his gaze back to her, "…thought you might need it," she finished quietly.

"I don't need your charity," he responded coldly, sitting down in front of the fire to warm his hands.

"Fine then," she replied in a huff, "I guess you don't want any food then either," she set the pan on the ground near the fire, allowing it to cool off. Scowling, the trainer grabbed the pan by the handle and pulled it towards him. Grabbing a bit with his finger, he blew on it to cool it off before popping it into his mouth. Swallowing it, he noticed something.

"I've had this before," he said to no one in particular.

"Yeah, I served it to you back in Sienna Village, it my dad's world famous potatoes," she paused, wondering if her parents were worried about her, she had ran away about a day ago…did they even think she had gone up the mountain?

"World famous?" ask the trainer, interrupting her thoughts, "I've never heard of them before…"

"Yeah," admitted Tori, a slow smile forming on her face, "we only serve them at our restaurant, and they don't even taste that great. They're just plain potatoes cooked by my dad, but that doesn't mean they're not special," the trainer simply responded with a blank stare, it was obvious he didn't understand.

"My dad is always so happy to make them, bragging about how wonderful they are and how famous he's going to be, that you can't help but get caught up in it. My dad can always use them to bring a smile to me or my mom," her smile grew brighter just thinking about it, "they're special because of the memories I have with them," she finished.

"Foolishness," was all he said before returning to the food. Tori's smile disappeared and she immediately stood up in anger, glaring down at him.

"What's wrong with you?" she shouted at him, "you take everything good and make it seem like nothing!" The trainer stood up, allowing himself to look Tori in the face.

"I make it look like nothing because it is nothing!" he retorted, "memories do nothing! Looking back at them serves only as a distraction."

"Why?" asked Tori, "why are they so terrible? What makes you see them like this? What happened to you?"

"You want to know?" replied the trainer, anger etched onto his face, "you really want to know?"

"Yes!" Tori screamed back at him.

"Everyone I knew and loved died in front of me! The only place I could even call home is nothing more than a black pile of ashes, a blank spot on the map!" Tori was taken aback, she hadn't thought he would answer, but he was not yet done, "I don't even know how I survived, all I remember is fire, and running. I'm running and I can't do anything else. I hear people screaming but I can't stop, I can't help them. You tell me memories are special? I can close my eyes and remember my parents, see them smiling, but when I open my eyes again, all I see are ashes. Memories won't get me to the top of this mountain, memories won't help me get my revenge, and memories won't bring them back. They are nothing!" he finally finished, practically spitting the last words at her. Glaring down at the pan he had left on the ground, he picked up and dumped the rest of the food into the fire. Throwing the pan back to the ground he turned away and headed for the mouth of the cave.

Tori didn't know what to say, she didn't know if there was anything she could say. Silently, she went about the cave, picking up her blanket, the pan, and putting out the fire. Throwing her backpack over her shoulders, she headed to the front of the cave, where the trainer was waiting, staring out into the blizzard.

"Ready to go?" he asked, not bothering to look at her.

"Hmm…" she muttered, not quite having found her voice. Heading out into the snow, Tori felt the leading presence again. Not knowing what else to do, she followed it. As she began walking all she could hears was the trainer's voice in her head, repeating over and over.

_"They are nothing!"

* * *

_

Tori stopped suddenly in the snow, causing the trainer to unceremoniously run into her.

"What are you doing?" he asked angrily, thinking she had done it deliberately. Tori simple raised her arm and pointed off to the distance as an answer. Following her gaze he saw what had caught her attention. It was the last thing either had ever expected to see in a desolate place like this, it was a house.

It was situated neatly in the snow, built out of sturdy stone with a powerful roof. It looked large, probably large enough to house several people. Both of them stared at it for a few minutes before finally saying something.

"W-what's a house doing here?" Tori asked, the question both of them had been thinking.

"No idea," answered the trainer who immediately began heading for the front door.

"What are you doing?" Tori asked him, confused.

"Going inside," he answered obviously, "there might be food or water, or even a map."

"But what if people are living there?" Tori followed up.

"Then we'll ask if they have food, water, or a map," he sighed, now sounding very annoyed. Seeing no other choice Tori ran up behind him as he opened the front door, surprisingly silent. Peering inside, everything appeared pitch black.

"You bring a flashlight?" the trainer asked Tori still peering inside.

"Huh? Oh, yeah," she replied, rummaging around inside her pack, finally pulling out the flashlight. Flicking it on, she handed it to the trainer who shined it inside. They slowly headed inside and entered what looked like a hallway. Heading through it, they peered into the few rooms they passed, shining the light in then quickly moving one. There were two bedrooms, each consisting of a single bed, neatly made, along with a desk and chair. Another room looked like a study, it had a desk and chair like the bedrooms, but also several bookcases full of books that were either about raising Pokémon, or simply books of fantasy. Continuing forward, they reached the end of the hallway, which led into a large living room. There was a large table, set for four people, along with a large chair, most likely for relaxing. At the edge of the room was another door that looked like it led to another bedroom.

"There's no dust…" Tori finally said.

"What?" asked the trainer, still looking around for anything that could useful to him.

"Someone kept this place clean, otherwise there'd be dust, but how do they see in here? There's no way to light it…" she explained, looking around. It was true, there were no switches for electrical lights, or lanterns or torches that could be lit by flame…it was all very strange.

"Doesn't mater, there's one more room, if there's nothing in there for us were leaving," heading for the last room, he was almost inside when the door suddenly slammed shut in front of him. Turning around in confusion, he began eying any corner, expecting an attack.

"Dusk…noir," a ghostly voice echoed throughout the room, yet the source could not be seen. Slowly, a large figure began rising out of the wooden floor. It faintly resembled a genie, but it only had one glaring red eye and a yellow antenna on top of it's head.

"Wha-what is that?" Tori stammered, terrified at the giant apparition.

"Dusknoir…just a Pokémon, beaten just as easily as any other," he replied, reaching down for one of his Pokémon.

"Dusknoir!" a deep voice suddenly shouted, shocking everyone, "that's enough, they're just two kids," stopping, the ghost Pokémon nodded and slowly drifted off to the side, still eyes the two warily. Shining the light down the hallway they were greeted by a powerful looking man. He was at least six feet tall with long white hair and a huge beard, dressed in thick wool clothing to protect him from the cold. His shoulders and head where covered in snow and when he saw the light pointed at him he let out a huge laugh.

"Is that a flashlight? Hah! I haven't seen one of those in years, but put that away there are better ways to light this old house. Dusknoir, use will-o-wisp," the ghost nodded and waved it's arms. Tiny balls of blue flame spiraled around it's body before spreading around the house, alighting neat the ceiling and giving a steady even light throughout the building.

"Easy way to light up the place, and I save on my electricity bill," the man let out another powerful laugh, "now, let see here, two kids and, oho! A trainer!" he added upon seeing the Pokéballs on the trainer's belt.

"Uh…sir? What are you doing up here?" Tori finally asked.

"Well that's obvious, I'm living here!" the man answered with another laugh, "and call me John, no need for all that sir stuff."

"No, that's not what I meant, I-"

"No more questions," John interrupted her, "at least, not until after we've had some dinner," with that he led them over to the large table set up in the living. Seeing no other choice, they followed him and sat down. John hurriedly went around the house, seemingly producing plates and other tableware out of nowhere. Finally he served them a meal, which consisted of mainly green vegetables and mushrooms. Tori, not wanting to look rude, picked up a mushroom and put it in her mouth, surprisingly, it was delicious! Staring over at he trainer though, she saw that he had not even attempted to touch his food, simply staring at John who sat down and devoured his meal with great gusto. Continuing to look around the room, Tori was surprised to see that Dusknoir had moved, not behind John, but behind the trainer. It seemed to be watching him, as if confused with what it saw.

"Well now," John said, finished with his meal, "I believe you may ask some questions now," seeing that the trainer wasn't going to say anything Tori asked a question first.

"Um, how did you get up here? Did you build this house? And, where did you get this food from?" Tori stopped, afraid John would get mad if she asked any more questions.

"Hah, is this an interrogation?" John asked, "no matter, I walked up here, same as you two. I actually found this house; I only added a few things, like this table, the silverware, and a few other odds and ends. As for the food, the constant tunneling of the Pokémon leaves tunnels and caves all throughout this mountain, and all sorts of things grow in them. Now, if you don't mind, I'll ask a question of my own, why are you two climbing this mountain?" Tori paused, unsure of how to answer, she couldn't tell him the real reason but…

"We've heard stories of the legendary Pokémon on top, we want to see it," the trainer answered for her.

"I see," John replied, nodding, "so trainer, why don't you let your Pokémon out for a bit, I'm sure they'd like to stretch out a bit," John added as an afterthought. The trainer slowly nodded and reached down to his belt, releasing his Pokémon in four busts of light. Each one looked around, expecting a battle, seeing none they each wandered around the room, unsure of what to do. Hitmonlee finally sat down cross-legged, looking like it was meditating. Houndour sat down next to it's trainer, acting like a guard. Banette headed over to Dusknoir, observing the large ghost Pokémon, while Scyther sat down as well, relaxing next to Hitmonlee.

"Quite a team you've got," observed John, "where'd you get them all?"

"You ask a lot of questions," countered the trainer, still on his guard.

"Excuse me," John apologized, "you are the only company I've had in a few decades, I apologize if I'm a bit overly talkative," he let out another chuckle.

"Hmm…" the trainer turned to his Pokémon, starting with Houndour, "Houndour go through abandoned towns, they're like scavengers, and I ran into a pack. Fighting them off, I was able to capture this one. Scyther I found in the woods, I knew they were powerful and he'd be useful, so I captured him. Hitmonlee attacked me, trying to prove it's strength, it was defeated easily. It began following me, hoping to become stronger by doing so," the trainer paused as if reflecting on those memories.

"And what about Banette?" John asked, indicating the grinning ghost that was scrutinizing his Dusknoir.

"That one…simply began following me one day," John nodded at this, as if it had some deeper meaning, "it was strong enough, so I kept it…" the trainer finished.

"I see, well, thank you for the company, it's been a long time since I've seen anyone up here, you are both welcome to use the bedrooms, it looks like it's getting dark outside," John offered.

"Sure…" replied the trainer, slowly getting out of his chair, Tori got up to follow him but John called her back.

"Wait, there's something I'd like to say to your friend first," he explained. The Trainer simply shook his head.

"Say whatever you want, she's not my friend," with that he left the room, his Pokémon following behind him. Tori, alone with John, glanced down at the table, nervous.

"Um, John…" she began unsteadily, "there's something I need to tell you…"

"You're not going up to just see the Pokémon on top of the mountain, are you," John finished for her.

"How did you know?" Tori asked, completely surprised.

"That boy…even I can feel the hatred and anger flowing from him," he explained, "his Pokémon, Banette, they are drawn to emotions, mostly dark emotions, and to see that one following him so closely, what he's going to do is obvious…" John's jolly nature was gone; his voice was one of complete seriousness.

"But, but can't you stop him somehow?" Tori asked, now worried.

"I could try…but I would lose," he answered easily, "tell me, have you heard the legends of this mountain?"

"Legends? No, never," Tori replied, now confused at the shift in topics.

"This mountain, is alive in it's own way, it can sense the emotions of the people climbing it, and it responds to them, drawing wild Pokemon to them, or even starting blizzards. Trainers, who try their luck, wanting an adventure, full of battle, find it, yet they are always forced back. But that trainer, to have so much hatred, I have never seen the mountain whip up such a terrible storm, yet he didn't stop, he was never forced back, he fought his way up here…" the old man sighed, a look of pity on his face, "you saw my Dusknoir didn't you, watching him? Dusknoir is known as a grim reaper of Pokémon…death swirls around that boy, that's what gives him strength, the need to avenge the dead…no, I could never defeat him.

"But what about me…I made it up here so easily," Tori argued.

"But you didn't come looking for a fight, what did you come looking for?" John asked, staring intently at Tori.

"I…I came looking for…him," Tori realized.

"Exactly, and the mountain led you, then once you found him…you wanted to help, and his desire to reach the top, and your need to help, led you here," John continued to explain.

"Tell me…how close are we to the top, to the end of this?" Tori asked needing to know.

"Close…very close, he could most likely make it up without you…but you need to go with him," John told her leaning forward.

"Why? You heard him, I'm not his friend, he doesn't even listen to me," Tori told him, looking back down at the table again

"No…you're wrong," John said silently, "just think, you followed him all the way through this, something he probably doesn't understand. Your probably the only person he ever hears, that why he distances himself, because your words get through to him. You're the closest thing to a friend he'll ever have…"

"But…what am I supposed to do?" Tori asked, desperate for an answer.

"I don't know," John sighed, "you must try…or something truly terrible is going to happen…" with that John stood up and headed to his room, Dusknoir following behind him, leaving Tori alone at the table as the will-o-wisps began to darken and fade away. Finally, she stood up and headed to the hallway. Looking into a room she saw the trainer, alone, his Pokémon having been returned, sleeping silently in a bed. Passing him, she went to the second room to find a bed of her own. Sitting down, she stared into the darkness of the room, unsure and afraid of what tomorrow would bring.

* * *

Hah, this one was a bit longer than I expected, I hope it's okay, I really like how the Trainer's scream match with Tori went, so please read and review everyone!


	5. Chapter 5

Here's chapter 5, it's a long one, so enjoy. Whoops, forgot these the first time, so I apologize. Don't own the Pokemon.

* * *

Tori nearly jumped out of bed as a great flash of light awaked her. Opening her eyes she saw the many fires from Dusknoir's will-o-wisp flickering happily near the ceiling of her room. Rubbing her eyes, Tori slowly forced herself out of the bed, stretching her tired muscles. Looking about the room she tried to remember falling asleep, but the only memory that came to mind were the words John had told her, that she had to go with the trainer to the top of the mountain, go with him, and find a way to stop him. Heading out into the hallway she almost ran right into John. Stepping back, embarrassed, she opened her mouth to apologize when he interrupted her.

"You better hurry, he's waiting by the front door and looks ready to leave without you," he quickly told her, moving to the side and motioning to the front door. Quickly heading down the hallway she found the stern figure of the trainer leaning against the doorway. Seeing her approaching the trainer opened the door and headed out into the snow, not even bothering to ask if she was ready to go or not. Sighing, Tori turned back to John.

"Thank you, for helping us," she thanked, nodding her head.

"No, thank you," replied John, "for bringing some excitement to an old man's life," smiling, he waved at Tori as she headed out the front door towards the trainer. Together, the duo began the hike through the snow, heading upward, spurned on by the knowledge that they were close to the end of their journey. Looking back for one last glimpse of John's house Tori saw that the front doorway was still open. In the doorway was John's Dusknoir. It seemed to be staring at them, but finally cut off it's gaze as it closed the doorway. Passing it off as nothing, she turned back and began following the trainer once more.

John stared at his Dusknoir as the door closed, shutting off the outside world once again. Nodding at it, the Dusknoir came and floated silently next to John.

"You were right my friend," John admitted to the Pokémon, "that boy was dangerous, but I still think he can be saved," his Dusknoir merely glared at him in response.

"You don't believe me do you?" John asked, letting out a quick laugh, "true, was drives him will not sustain him forever, he might be broken on the top of the mountain, and if he is he will die…but I trust that girl. She truly wants to help him…perhaps she sees the boy that he once was, I don't know. However, I have given them all the help I can…" John finished with a powerful yawn, stretching his arms out behind him.

"I thank you my friend," John said, nodding towards Dusknoir, "for waking me, and making the illusion seem real…those two needed my help…but now I am tired. I think I would like to return to sleep, for a long time…goodbye," with that John turned and began walking down the hallway, towards his room. The further he got something seemed to be happening to him; with each step he seemed less solid, as if he was fading away. Eventually it seemed his feet no longer even touched the floor, as if he was simply floating along. Finally reaching the door to his room, John didn't even bother to open it, he simply faded through. Dusknoir quietly observed all of this, and then turned away. Looking around the house, it saw that the dishes had been left on the table. It lifted them and quickly put them away, quietly going around the house, cleaning and taking care of it, as had been it's master's last wish.

* * *

Tori continued to march forward in the snow, following the feeling that she knew now, was from the mountain itself. Feeling a need to break the silence that had arisen ever since they had left John's house, she opened her mouth.

"Um…can I ask you a question?" Tori finally asked, her voice sounding meek and silent among the empty field of snow.

"You can, but that doesn't mean I'll answer," the trainer grunted ahead of her, he had chosen to lead and it seemed he could now feel the path as she did.

"If you manage to…kill," Tori forced the word out unwillingly, "the Pokémon on top of the mountain, what are you going to do after that?" the question hung in the air as the pair continued forward. Tori gave up, her gaze dropping down to her feet, figuring he wasn't going to answer.

"You already know the answer to that question," he said suddenly, surprising her.

"What are you talking about?" Tori asked, searching her head for the answer.

"I…want everything to be gone," he repeated, "that includes me. Once that Pokémon is dead, there's nothing left for me," he stated, his voice flat and emotionless as he continued forward.

"Wait," replied Tori, trying to keep up with him, "you mean that after all of this, going to the top of the mountain, fighting your way through blizzards, you're going to sit down and die?" her question remained unanswered, the trainer didn't even turn around to acknowledge her. Tori's gaze once more fell to the ground. She knew John had wanted her to try and stop the trainer, but right now, she had no idea how she could accomplish such a task.

* * *

They had been hiking for what seemed like hours, Tori's legs were sore and tired and the snow continued to look like a comfortable to rest. But, Tori would only stop to rest when the trainer did, and she knew he would never stop. Looking up, she was proven wrong once again to see the trainer stopped and standing still, seemingly focused on what stood ahead of him. Looking up she saw what had captured his attention. A great rock wall had risen up in front of them, shearing through the empty field of snow they had been laboring through. The wall was far too smooth to climb and the top disappeared into the clouds above their heads.

"What are we supposed to do now?" Tori asked, gazing in awe at the powerful obstruction.

"What else?" replied the trainer, "we keep moving," he lifted his arm and pointed towards an opening in the wall, it looked like an entrance to a cave.

"Of course, through a blizzard, now underground in a dark cave," she said to herself, rummaging through her pack in order to pull out her flashlight, "I'll lead the way then?" she offered.

"Yeah," the trainer mumbled, still staring at the entrance, as if looking for something that wasn't there. Passing uneasily by him, Tori headed into the cave, flicking on her flashlight to drive away the darkness. All the light managed to illuminate was a long tunnel of dark stone, devoid of Paras or Zubat one would expect to find in a mountain cave. Moving forward, hearing the trainer following behind her, Tori rounded a corner, cutting off the light from the outside entrance. As they moved forward Tori noticed that they were passing several side tunnels, this place was a real life labyrinth. The only thing that kept her from getting lost was the simple feeling that she was going the right way.

A loud gasp pulled her out of her thoughts, looking behind her Tori saw the trainer glaring down a tunnel intently.

"No…" he muttered to himself, "they can't be…no!" he shouted, eyes widening as he abandoned Tori, charging down a side tunnel. Tori stood still for a moment, shocked, before following him, hearing his footfalls echo throughout the narrow tunnel. However, it seemed like she would never find him, the tunnel continued to split into other directions, the footfalls seeming to come from everywhere, Tori had to guess several times which path to take, and no matter which path she chose, she felt it was the wrong one. Suddenly, she noticed the tunnel seemed to be getting darker…

Her flashlight was dying.

Now extremely worried, Tori began to recklessly run forward, hoping to catch up with the trainer even though she could no longer hear him running. Finally, worn out and tired, she slumped to her knees on the hard ground. She knew she was lost, and the light from her flashlight was getting dimmer and dimmer. She didn't know what to do.

She jumped as the sound of footsteps reached her ears; she looked up, hoping to see the trainer, but saw the last two people she would have suspected walking calmly towards her. Her mother and father. They stopped in front of her, staring down with sad looks in their eyes.

"Mom? Dad?" she asked in disbelief, "how…what are you doing here?"

"We could ask you the same question," her father replied, his voice deep and serious, so unlike how she remembered it, "you ran away to chase after that boy, why?" he asked, his gaze narrowing.

"You left all you knew and loved behind, for what?" her mother continued before Tori could think of an answer, "to understand a boy that burned down Lukes's home with no remorse?"

"I couldn't just let him be!" Tori finally blurted out, "he was the first glimpse of the outside world I have ever seen. I…I just needed to see him, to understand him…" her voice slowly trailed.

"Are you satisfied now that you've seen him?" her father asked, "a boy full of anger and revenge, intent only on killing?"

"You could leave him, you know the way back," her mother explained slowly, "he won't get out, you know that, and he won't cause anymore harm," Tori's eyes opened wide in shock, yes, she could feel the way back, but to abandon the trainer? She could not deny that the thought had been in her mind, forced to the very back, but now it was drawn forword with those words.

"No, I couldn't just leave him," Tori answered silently, "I couldn't…it wouldn't be right…"

"And would it be right to let him live? Let him live and lead him to kill the Pokémon on top of the mountain?" her father questioned angrily.

"No, but…I won't kill him!" Tori finally stated defiantly, standing up to look her parents in the face, "he had everything taken away from him, his friends, family, even his entire town, I won't be the one to take the last thing he has, his life," her parent's expression seemed to soften at her passionate voice.

"But what of the Pokémon?" her mother silently replied, "You would let him kill it?"

"No, I won't let him," Tori answered confidently, "I won't let either of them die!" her parent's expression turned to smiles upon hearing this. Silently they nodded and parted in front of her, they both motioned for her to move ahead. Seeing few other choices, Tori began walking forward, using the dim light from her flashlight to avoid tripping on loose stones. After passing her parents, she quickly turned back, but both had gone, as if they had never really been there. Before having time to think about this, a sound reached her ears, not the sound of footsteps, but the sound of someone…crying.

Pointing the light ahead of her Tori saw a huddled form leaning against a dead-end in the cave; the body was shaking as if in fear. Moving forward Tori tried to identify the person, and as the fading light landed on them, she knew. It was the trainer, sobbing. Tori, completely taken aback, approached him. At the sound of her footsteps, he turned, his eyes opened wide.

"You, are you…?" he stood and walked over to her, his hand reaching out quickly and fastening onto her arm, squeezing it almost painfully, but he immediately let go, "real…you're…real," Tori, still surprised, reached out a hand an placed it on his shoulder.

"Are you alright?" she asked hesitantly, "what happened, why did you run off like that?"

"I saw them, both of them, here, smiling and laughing," he answered, his voice shaking, "they were so real…I chased them…but no matter how quickly I ran I couldn't catch them, they just got farther and farther away. Until I got here, here they were waiting for me…it was like I was a kid again. I reached out to them…so close, then they were gone, the fire consumed them again!" The tears slowly dripped from his face, falling to the dark stone. Watching them, Tori realized what had happened. Deep inside the mountain, it's power seemed to grow, the mountain had used their own memories and emotions against them. It had used her parents and her doubts, and for the trainer…it forced him to face his memories. She hesitantly reached out a hand.

"Come on…it's all almost over," she told him. Turning his head to look at her, the trainer merely nodded, quickly wiped his tears, and his face hardened once more, any trace of his emotions gone. Ignoring the hand, he pushed himself off of the floor and stood up.

"So close…" he whispered to himself, "lead the way," he said finally, nodding again towards Tori. As she turned, Tori noticed that the light from her flashlight had gone out, but she also found that she no longer needed it. She could feel the tunnel, like it was a part of herself. She strode confidently forward; knowing that the path she had chosen was the correct one.

* * *

"Light…" the trainer's voice caused Tori to open her eyes, she had closed them, she had been so in tune with the mountain. Looking forward, she saw that light from the outside was shining down into the tunnels. Hurrying forward, the trainer fast behind her, they were both forced to shield their eyes as they emerged into direct sunlight. As Tori's eyes focused, she couldn't help but be amazed at what they had jut discovered.

They were standing in the middle of a massive field, surrounded by massive walls. This valley was absent of any snow or ice; colorful green grass grew all around them, a strange sight after pushing through a constant blizzard. In the middle of the field was a beautiful blue pond, it's surface as smooth as glass.

"Wow!" exclaimed Tori, looking around in wonder, "where are we?"

"The top…or as close as we can get," observed the trainer. He was right; the walls that surrounded the valley did not form a ceiling, merely stopping forty feet above their heads, revealing a surprisingly clear blue sky.

"But…where's the Pokémon?" Tori asked hesitantly.

"Not here," the trainer said simply, "but I know where it'll return," he lifted his arm and pointed to the edge of the valley, Tori was surprised she hadn't noticed it earlier. A great circle of grass had been burnt to ashes, and great stones had been lined around its edge. It looked strangely like, a nest.

"But it's not here," Tori said meekly, "are you just going to wait for it to return?"

"No…no, it will come," the trainer replied simply, and as he did, Tori felt something about him…change. It was as if all of his anger and emotions were focused together. Looking at him, Tori thought she saw something; it looked liked three people, all around the trainer. A smiling man and woman, holding a happy child between, but above them flew a terrible creature, wreathed in fire. This creature was where all of his hatred and anger flowed from, and now he focused it toward that creature, called it. A piercing cry split the sky, and looking upward, Tori saw something rushing towards them. It glowed with brilliant red and orange flames. It cried a second time, the sound echoing throughout the valley.

The call had been answered.

The trainer let a savage grin form on his face as he reached for a Pokéball.

"It's here, I knew it would be," he proclaimed, excited, "go! Banette!" The Pokémon appeared with it's characteristic cackle, looking upward as the great Pokémon descended. Flapping it wings, the Pokémon landed in front of them. It was a majestic bird, powerful flames flicker along it's wings and forming a crest on top of it's head. It stared at them, as if wondering if they were the source of such a powerful call.

"I-is that?" Tori muttered, completely in awe.

"Moltres, the legendary bird of fire," the trainer answered, "it's the only one of it's kind…and it took everything from me! Shadow ball!" at the order, Banette quickly released a spinning ball of black energy towards the mighty Pokémon. As the attack connected, Moltres reeled backward, more in surprise than actual pain. Settling itself, Moltres glared at the tiny ghost Pokémon, then immediately took off into the air, it's wings scattering tiny embers as they flapped.

"Don't let it get away Banette!" The trainer shouted. The ghost Pokémon obeyed by levitating up into the air, headed towards Moltres. However, it did not seem like the bird Pokémon was trying to run, it had stopped in midair, and the air around it seemed to glow with power.

"Slash it with shadow claw!" the trainer urged, Banette rushed forward, getting closer to Moltres, but as it did, the air around it seemed to glow even brighter.

"Wait! I think it's a-" Tori tried to warn the trainer, but it was too light. It a blinding flash of light, Moltres slammed directly into Banette, using the powerful move Sky Attack. Letting out a final small cackle, Banette collapsed to the valley floor, defeated.

"It needs to be taken out of the sky," observed the trainer, returning Banette. He quickly grabbed another Pokéball, "Scyther, bring it down!" he shouted as the mantis Pokémon appeared. Nodding, the wings on Scyther's back spread open and began humming. Running forward, Scyther launched itself off of the ground, flying at an amazing speed. Seeing Scyther approach, Moltres once more began to glow, preparing another Sky Attack.

"Scyther, double team!" the trainer shouted, suddenly, there were three Scyther flying towards Moltres, the flames from the Pokémon reflecting on all of their razor sharp blades. Once more the bright light flared, but Scyther did not fall. Moltres had fallen for one of the illusionary copies, and now the last two raced towards it.

"Slash!" Scyther's bladed arms dug into Moltres, shearing at it's beautiful wings. Letting a mournful cry echo through the valley, Moltres began to descend, red blood mixed with the magnificent flames of it's wings. Seeing all of this, Tori could feel tears come to her eyes, harming something like that was just…wrong somehow. However, as it was falling, Moltres was able to get in one more attack. Flipping over in midair, Moltres opened it beak, and a rush of flames was sent into the sky. The powerful blast moved to fast for Scyther to even hope dodging. The fire engulfed it, blasting Scyther to the floor of the valley. Turning back over, Moltres was barely able to land without injuring itself further.

"Good job Scyther, it can't run now," the trainer nodded, returning the Pokémon to allow it to rest, "this should do it, go Hitmonlee!" The fighting Pokémon appeared, staring down it's opponent and crouching down to a fighting stance. Moltres was wary now, it had been wounded, and stared at it's new opponent, suspicious of what it would do.

"Close combat!" Hitmonlee rushed forward, kicking it's legs out it a multitude of attacks in an attempt to overwhelm it's enemy. Moltres was driven back by the barrage of attacks. As it reeled back the trainer ordered one more attack.

"Finish it with Mega Kick!" jumping upwards Hitmonlee slammed it's leg into Moltres's chest, causing it to fall backwards and crash into the ground.

"I-is it over?" Tori asked, staring in sadness at the fallen Pokémon. The trainer nodded at her, his eyes still serious.

"Yes…it's over," he silently answered, reaching for a Pokéball to return Hitmonlee. However, a powerful cry drew his gaze away from Tori. Moltres had manages to pull itself off of the ground, it had endured the attack! Opening it's beak, a spiraling inferno of fire escaped, swirling about Hitmonlee. When the powerful flames cleared, the trainer was down another Pokémon. Returning his third Pokémon the trainer glared at Moltres.

"This one will finish you," he declared, releasing his last Pokémon, Houndour, "Flamethrower!" Moltres did not even give the attack chance to hit, immediately countering with Heat Wave. A spiral of superheated air erupted from it's mouth and clashed with Houndour's flames. As the clash continued, it was obvious that Houndour was tiring, Moltres's Heat Wave was breaking through, it was almost upon him.

"Come on," the trainer muttered to himself, "just a little more!" at his shouting, something seemed to change with Houndour, it seemed to stand taller, stronger, and a white glow began to surround it.

"What's happening?" Tori asked in wonder.

"Evolution," the trainer replied, a savage grin on his face. As they watched, Houndour's body began to lengthen and grow taller, while two horns began curving out of its head. The evolution ended as Houndour's tailed lengthened to end in an arrowhead. The new Houndoom opened it's mouth wider, releasing a new powerful barrage of flames, overpowering Heat Wave and overwhelming Moltres. The legendary Pokémon had had enough; it collapsed to the ground, defeated.

"I win," the trainer announced quietly, staring down at his defeated opponent. Houndoom looked towards him, waiting for further orders. But before he could open his mouth, a mournful keening arose from Moltres, a cry of pure sadness. Looking at the Pokémon Tori saw something around it.

"Look…" Tori said to the trainer, fascinated by what she saw. It seemed to be memories…the mountain's power was showing them the memories of Moltres. The trainer could only watch in shock at what he saw.

The images around Moltres seemed to be from many years ago, where Moltres had found refuge on another mountain. It was alone, resting in a beautiful nest made from sturdy stones that would not be destroyed by it's powerful flames. As it shifted, something was revealed, it was an egg, a large beautiful egg, red as blood that seemed to be giving off it's own heat. As Moltres began to lay it's head down to rest something roused it's attention. Looking up, it saw that several men were surrounding it, each one threw out a Pokéball, releasing a Pokémon that would immediately attack. It tried to keep them away with it flames, but there were too many, it was driven back, it couldn't do anything. Too late did it see what they were trying to do, as it was pushed back, a man ran up and grabbed the egg, quickly escaping, and it couldn't do anything!

The men left quickly, leaving the broken Pokémon behind. Finally, it rose up from the ground. Flapping it's wings it rose to the sky, letting out a scream of anger and despair. Looking around the plans that surrounded the mountain Moltres gaze fell upon a tiny village. Angry and hurt, Moltres viewed everything in a red haze, it saw the village as a target, a means for revenge upon the humans. Flying low towards the village, the embers from it's flapping wings started fires in the dry grass, and it's open mouth spewed forth a raging inferno. In no time at all, the small village was ablaze. Flying back towards the Sky, Moltres let out another scream, it would let the whole world know of it's sorrow. At that, the memory image faded to nothing.

"It…destroyed your village," Tori said in shock, "it was hurt and scared, it lased out at the first thing it saw for revenge,"

"And now I'm going to destroy it," the trainer stated, moving closer towards the wounded Pokémon.

"No!" shouted Tori, "This Pokémon lost the most important thing in it's life. I know that doesn't make it right to destroy you village, but how is what you're doing any better? All you're doing is creating more pain! Is this what you're friends, your family, would have wanted?"

"Shut up!" Shouted the trainer, turning back to Tori, "you don't know me, you don't know my parents!"

"But you did know them!" Tori countered, "they loved you and raised you! They wouldn't want you to cause death like this!" at her words the trainer tried to open his mouth in a reply, but couldn't bring one up. Screaming, he slammed his fist into the ground, now unsure of what to do.

Again, Tori saw something for around the trainer…but it wasn't a memory. Two people seemed to be walking towards him…yet it seemed as if their feet didn't even brush the grass.

_"Death swirls around that boy…the spirits of the dead…"_

Tori quickly looked around, had that been John's voice? Or was she simply remembering something he had told her? Looking closer at the two people near the trainer, Tori recognized them as the ones from his memory, his mother and father. Was the mountain so powerful as to cal the spirits of the dead? The ghostly image of the man walked up and placed a hand on the shoulder of the trainer. Looking up, the trainer opened his eyes wide in shock. He opened his mouth to say something, but the woman simply smiled and placed a finger to her lips, telling him to stay silent.

Tori turned away when she saw this, this was not something for her to see, it was far too personal. After waiting for what seemed like an age, she felt a calm hand come to rest on her shoulder. Turning her head, she came face to face with the trainer, yet, he was somehow…different. His face had lost the energy it once had, the energy that had forced through a blizzard and a labyrinth of caves, the energy that allowed him to face a legendary, and defeat. Now his face simply looked, tired, tired, and alone.

"Lets…lets go," he told Tori, his voice almost a whisper. Nodding, Tori turned to leave the valley, the trainer walking behind her while his Houndoom walked beside him. As they reached the entrance to the cave the trainer turned for one last glance at Moltres. It had risen from the ground and stared at the group, it's eyes showing a deep understanding of what occurred.

"Goodbye," the trainer whispered to the empty air.

* * *

So there yah go, hope it was what you guys wanted to see. I did like how the fight scene turned out, so please R&R. I'll have a short epilogue page up sometime in the future.


	6. Chapter 6

Hah! Last chapter! Enjoy everyone, and no owning of Pokémon for this one.

* * *

Tori couldn't believe when she saw her village on the horizon…it was just like waking up from a dream. Once they had left the caves, it seemed to take no time at all to head back down the mountain. There was no wind, no blizzards to assault them on every step of their journey. The snow seemed shallower, less slick, and it seemed like they could almost see a trail. However, not a single word was spoken throughout the entire journey. Tori had led the way once again, slowly working her way through the snow, while the trainer followed mutely behind, his hand on the neck of his Houndoom. Tori was beginning to doubt whether or not he was going to talk again. All the energy he once had was gone, his eyes had a glazed look about them, and without Houndoom, Tori doubted he would have moved forward at all.

Now, back at the beginning, Tori wondered just what was going to happen next. Could she return to a normal life, after going through such a powerful ordeal? After seeing a legendary Pokémon, seeing the life of a person from the outside world? She just didn't know anymore.

"The village…Sienna," the quiet words interrupted Tori's train of though. Turning around, she was surprised to see the trainer had spoken them.

"Yeah…it looks like were almost at the end," Tori replied, though the trainer seemed not to notice, his hand absentmindedly rubbing Houndoom's neck.

"The end…it feels nothing like it…" he murmured to himself.

"What do you mean?" Tori asked hesitantly, as she did the trainer slowly turned to face her.

"You saw them didn't you? At the top of the mountain?" Tori couldn't believe the words coming out of his mouth; he was actually talking to her, rather than ordering her around.

"Y-yeah…they were your…your parents weren't they?" she replied nervously, it didn't seem right to speak about something this personal.

"Yeah…" he muttered quietly, "up there, they spoke to me."

"Spoke?" Tori questioned, she couldn't deny that she was curious.

"Not with words…it was more of…pictures and emotions," he slowly explained, "they showed me…that they were fine, that they were so happy I had lived. I didn't understand…they had no resentment over being killed. There was only one thing that brought them sadness…"

"W-what was it?" Tori asked, the Trainer turned, staring directly into her eyes.

"It was me…it was my life they were sad at. They knew the path I was heading down would lead to…nothing. They told me to…let it all go…to simply…live," he let out a tired sigh, turning away, "when anger, hatred, and bitterness have left someone who lives by little else, what is left for them but emptiness?" his voiced trailed off to nothing, leaving the both of them in an awkward silence.

"So…what are you going to do now?" Tori finally asked.

"I don't know, but," he turned once more to Tori, "you should be asking yourself that question."

"Oh!" Tori suddenly realized. She hadn't even thought of what she was going to do once she had gotten back home, what she was going to say, or how…stopping she turned back to the trainer, who was simply nodding at her.

"I can't go with you, your village won't accept me. You'll return home and I'll…I'll find my own path," he explained.

"But," Tori interrupted, "it doesn't seem right, just leaving you like this."

"And you would rather leave all you know behind?" the trainer asked, crossing his arms across his chest, "your family, friends, everything?"

"Well, no, but…" Tori let out a sigh, exasperated. The trainer looked away from her, his eyes falling upon a lone tree on the far outskirts of town.

"I think I'll rest before leaving. I would guess I'd be there until six tonight," with that he headed off towards the tree, not even looking back, Houndoom following silently behind him. Staring after him, Tori knew what she had to do. Turning quickly, she began running back home.

* * *

"Tori!" her father's voiced exploded with happiness and relief as he engulfed her in a gigantic bear hug. After finally pulling herself free she was immediately met by a hug from her mother. Managing to get free of that she finally got a look at her parents' faces. Her father eyes shone with happiness, but it was obvious a stern lecture was waiting to come out. Her mother, while smiling, looked completely disheveled. Her hair was out of order; strands were hanging haphazardly and her eyes from red from obvious tears.

"Mom…Dad…" she started, but that was all she able to get before being swept away by a rush of people. Everyone else in town had seen her enter town, and now they had caught up with her. Each one had a question for her, they needed to know what had happened, why she had done, and Tori couldn't even find room to focus.

Out of the blue, she felt a reassuring hand grip her shoulder. Turning to focus on the person, she was greeted by a woman dressed in a nurse's outfit, her hat styled with a green cross and her red hair styled into two loops that hung off the back of her head.

"Please leave this child alone!" the Nurse Joy shouted above the crowd, "she has just been through a harrowing journey and before she can see any of you she has to be checked out by me," with that, her grip like a vice, Nurse Joy led Tori through the crowd, her air of authority causing the crowd to part. They soon reached the Pokécenter and as the door slid open Joy led Tori inside.

Inside the building Tori couldn't help but stare in wonder at the all of the high tech equipment that surrounded her. After hiking up a mountain for the past few days with nothing more advanced than a flashlight, this was almost overwhelming. However, she didn't have time to look around as she was pulled through another door into an examination room. Nurse Joy quickly sat her down in a chair.

"But, I thought you were a Pokémon doctor," Tori asked Joy, who was heading around the room, checking several drawers, looking for something, "do you know how to treat huma-" she was cut off as Nurse Joy found what she was searching for, a thermometer, and placed it in Tori's mouth.

"A Nurse has to know how to treat anything that could come through here, especially here in a town with so few trainers, now quiet," Tori obediently closed her mouth and after a few moments the thermometer gave a beeping sound. Pulling it out Nurse Joy narrowed her eyes as she examined it, "hmm…98.6 degrees, that seems to be fine, now then, say ah."

"Ah," Tori complied as Nurse Joy examined her throat. Many more test followed this, checking everything from her eyes to her toes. Finally finishing Nurse Joy nodded at Tori.

"Surprising, you seem to be fine, no hypothermia, frostbite, not even a cold, just a little tired, but that's to be expected and can be fixed by a little rest," nodding again, Nurse Joy stared at Tori again, a questioning look on her face, "I suppose I have to ask…what happened to you up there?" Tori shied away, turning her gaze from Nurse Joy.

"It's…hard to explain, do you think I can see my parents? I want to talk them," Tori hesitantly asked.

"Of course," agreed Nurse Joy, "I'll go get them," she quickly through the door, leaving Tori alone. Tori had no time to think of what she was going to say when her parents were ushered through the door. Nodding at the three of them, Nurse Joy left the room, allowing them some privacy. After a moment of silence Tori's father opened his mouth and asked the obvious question.

"What were you thinking? You left without a word, all of the snow gear gone, along with food and water, your mother and I couldn't believe you had gone to mountain, you could have died!" he finally stopped, glaring down at Tori, waiting for an answer.

"I…don't know, I wasn't thinking at all," she lamely replied, "but all you told me to do was forget about him, and I just couldn't. I had to understand him…so I followed him."

"So what," her father finally replied, her mother simply standing mute at his side, "did you learn from doing this?"

"I learned…that he had suffered, that he was suffering, and once I did…I wanted to help him," she wanted to tell them everything, the whole story, all the way to the final fight, but…she couldn't, it felt wrong to reveal something so personal, "I think I did…help him that is, and the Pokémon on the mountain…is safe…" as she trailed off her parents only stood in silence. Her father finally opened his mouth to say something before her mother interrupted him.

"The important things is," her mother said, a hand on her father's shoulder to calm him, "is that you're home, and that you're safe," at these words her father seemed to calm down. Staring at her parent's happy faces, it only made Tori feel worse with what she was about to say.

"Actually, there's something I want to tell you," Tori hesitantly began, unsure of exactly how she was going to tell them, "I'm…I'm not staying," as the words left her mouth she felt moisture building up in her eyes. She quickly blinked it away, she couldn't cry, not now, or else she would lose her resolve.

"I…I want to see the world," she explained to her shocked parents, "this world is…amazing, but the only part I'd ever seen was this village. I finally got a glimpse of it when I left to follow the trainer," her parents continued to stare in stunned silence. It seemed her father was about to speak when her mother grabbed his shoulder and shook her head. She nodded to wards the door, and, sighing, Tori's father followed her outside. Alone once again, Tori wondered what her parents would decide, if they sad no, how would they stop her? Would they lock her in her room? Bolt the window and slid her meals under the door? She quickly shook her head, she knew her parents wouldn't do something like that; all she could now was wait.

Finally, the door slid open, allowing her parents back inside. After a few hesitant moments, her mother began to speak.

"There's…nothing we can do to stop you is there?" she asked.

"Nothing legal that is," her father added, a sad grin on his face. Tori smiled at the joke, her father could always lighten the mood if he wanted to.

"Anyways," her mother continued, trying hard to keep a grin from forming on her face as well, "It's obvious you didn't come to this decision lightly…so it's we can little else but let you go…" immediately after she finished Tori leapt forward, wrapping her arms around both her parents in a hug.

"Mom, dad, I love you so much," she told them, no longer stopping the tears that streamed down her face, "I promise that I'll call as much as possible, and I will be back, so don't worry too much."

"Well who could stay away knowing there's a plate of World famous Potatoes at home?" her father added before embracing her in a hug with her mother. At that moment, Nurse Joy walked back through the door.

"Excuse me," she said, sounding slightly embarrassed for interrupting, "but the patient needs rest."

"Of course," replied her father, giving Tori one last more smile before leaving with her mother. Nurse Joy lead Tori out of the exam room to a room for patient recovery. It contained the simple necessities, a bathroom, and a bed. The whole way, Tori felt like complaining that she really wasn't that tired, but once she sat down in the bed, her eyelids seemed much heavier. Thanking the nurse she slowly lay down and closed her eyes. Maybe just a few minutes…yeah, she could spare a few…

* * *

Quickly opening her eye, Tori quickly got out of bed, she no longer felt the least bit tired, but how long had she been asleep? Quickly heading out to the entrance area of the Pokécenter the windows and doors showed that night had fallen on the town. Turning quickly she saw Nurse Joy studiously working at the reception table.

"Um, excuse me," she asked, heading towards the counter, "could you tell me what time it is?"

"Hmm?" asked Nurse Joy, looking up from her work, "about…8:30," Tori felt her stomach clench as she heard the news. Without another word to the nurse she charged outside onto the empty streets. Gazing about she barely saw the tree the trainer had pointed out earlier. She quickly headed towards it, even knowing there was no chance he was there, he wasn't the type who would wait for anyone.

Out of breath, Tori managed to reach the base where she slumped down, leaning her forehead against the cool bark. How could she have been so stupid? She should have left at once, not stop for a nap. As she sat there in silence she thought she felt something bump against her shoulder, but she passed it off as nothing. However, she felting something hit again on top of her head, much harder. Looking up, her eyes opened wide as she saw the trainer, lazily resting on one of the great branches of the tree, next to his Houndoom. In his hand was a large group of pinecones.

"You gonna sit there feeling sorry for yourself the whole night?" he asked, tossing another pinecone down at her.

"You…why are…what are…" Tori tried to ask, unable to string the right words together. Not even bothering to answer, the trainer jumped down from his perch, soon followed by his Houndoom.

"Come on, you're here, lets get going," he told her simply, turning to walk away from her, his Pokémon immediately following.

"Waiting!" Tori finally managed to blurt out, "you waited…for me, even when I didn't show up?"

"Hardly," he replied, not even turning around, "just lost track of time," he continued walking, and, tired of always going behind him, Tori quickly caught up, walking instep beside him. As she walked, Tori felt a small smile coming to her face, true, he had said he didn't care, but for once, Tori didn't think he had been brutally honest with her. Also, she was beginning another adventure, all over the world! And she would be traveling with the great trainer…the trainer…

"Um," she asked hesitantly, "just uh...what your name?"  


* * *

Well there you have it, the epilogue, though it did end up turning out to be longer than I expected. Hope you all enjoyed it, I might make a sequel later, but time will tell I suppose. Please give a final R&R.


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